First of all, I know I'm nit-picking. The Bruins played a very solid game today, and were rewarded with a well-deserved win. That being said, I have been disappointed with the Boychuk and Seidenberg's play as of late. I had a few observations from today's game and just wanted to see what you guys think.

Boychuk and Seidenberg were on the ice for nearly every single one of Colorado's quality scoring chances. I just don't think they have very good chemistry with one another. In fact, I think they have been the Bruins' worst defensive pair over the past couple of games, just in terms of their play in the defensive zone.

From what I saw of today's game, it is apparent that Boychuk and Seidenberg give up the blue line way too easily. They collapse far too deep into their defensive zone, allowing the opposing team to get some quality scoring chances. Even though they are keeping the puck-carrier to the outside/along the boards, opponents are still managing to put the puck on net.

An interesting statistic: For even strength situations, Dennis Seidenberg has the highest on-ice goals against per 60 minutes (2.26) for all Bruins' defensemen. He is the 5th highest on the team in this category.

What makes this situation even more difficult is the fact that the other two defensive pairs are playing so well. The Chara-Kampfer and McQuaid-Ference pairs seem to have a lot of chemistry with each other. If I were Julien, I would sit either Boychuk or Seidenberg the next game and give Stuart a chance. He looked really good in his first game back and I would like to see him more often.

On a side note, Wheeler played really well today. I'm not a fan of his at all, but he played really aggressively and used his body well. Great game.

I wouldn't mind seeing Boychuk get a few healthy scratches just so McQuaid doesn't get rusty it wouldn't hurt Johnny to watcha few games. I think were seeing why Seidenberg has basically been a journey men his whole career he's been very streaky. Denis blocks allot of shots as he fronts the pucks the puck quite well so there is a bit of a trade off plus his offensive numbers have picked up a bit lately.

It seems that every team has defenseman that have one or two defensman who have off nights here and there it's to be expected. Monday night it will be Ference and Stuart who get criticized for bad plays against the Kings to me it's cyclical.

First of all, I know I'm nit-picking. The Bruins played a very solid game today, and were rewarded with a well-deserved win. That being said, I have been disappointed with the Boychuk and Seidenberg's play as of late. I had a few observations from today's game and just wanted to see what you guys think. Boychuk and Seidenberg were on the ice for nearly every single one of Colorado's quality scoring chances. I just don't think they have very good chemistry with one another. In fact, I think they have been the Bruins' worst defensive pair over the past couple of games, just in terms of their play in the defensive zone. From what I saw of today's game, it is apparent that Boychuk and Seidenberg give up the blue line way too easily. They collapse far too deep into their defensive zone, allowing the opposing team to get some quality scoring chances. Even though they are keeping the puck-carrier to the outside/along the boards, opponents are still managing to put the puck on net. An interesting statistic: For even strength situations, Dennis Seidenberg has the highest on-ice goals against per 60 minutes (2.26) for all Bruins' defensemen. He is the 5th highest on the team in this category. What makes this situation even more difficult is the fact that the other two defensive pairs are playing so well. The Chara-Kampfer and McQuaid-Ference pairs seem to have a lot of chemistry with each other. If I were Julien, I would sit either Boychuk or Seidenberg the next game and give Stuart a chance. He looked really good in his first game back and I would like to see him more often. On a side note, Wheeler played really well today. I'm not a fan of his at all, but he played really aggressively and used his body well. Great game. Posted by TimThomas-god

The collapsing can be said of all D as it is the B way at their own line. At a certain point they all collapse, Boych doesn't always do this and when he doesn't is when you see his monster hits at he blue line.

It is a point that infuriates me at times watching the game when we give up the line when there does not have to be this back off. It is the Julien way, and since his followers think he is a star, it is right next to the Milky way, just out of this world.

In Response to Boychuk and Seidenberg : The collapsing can be said of all D as it is the B way at their own line. At a certain point they all collapse, Boych doesn't always do this and when he doesn't is when you see his monster hits at he blue line. It is a point that infuriates me at times watching the game when we give up the line when there does not have to be this back off. It is the Julien way, and since his followers think he is a star, it is right next to the Milky way, just out of this world.Posted by No4BobbyOrr-GOAT

I agree that it is a trend among all of the Bruins' D-men to collapse into the defensive zone, but it seems to me that the opposing team exploits this strategy more often when Boychuk and Seidenberg are on the ice. Chara can afford to collapse, because he has a monster reach. The same can be said for a guy like Stuart, who doesn't have quite the reach, but makes up for it with his great defensive positioning. To me, the system is obviously the reason for this defensive strategy, but poor play doesn't help things. I doubt Julien intended his defensive system to be executed in this way.